Strauss’ Salome: A partial survey of the discography by Ralph Moore There are around eighty recordings of Salome, of which a dozen are studio recordings; I review all of the latter here plus what I hope is a reasonably representative selection of thirteen live, live composite and radio broadcast recordings, making a total of twenty-five in all. There are two live recordings of the 1907 French version and one in an Italian translation; the rest all use the original 1905 German libretto, which the composer wrote as a stripped-down version based on the German translation of Oscar Wilde’s play. Salome quickly established itself in the repertoire of German houses but provoked resistance elsewhere from censors and an establishment who, just as Puccini’s Tosca had been condemned as a “shabby little shocker”, were outraged by its immorality, violence and lasciviousness. It took a generation before earning its rightful place in the regular operatic canon of the big houses in the Anglo-Saxon world. For more on this, see Len Mullenger’s short article. Today, it is one of Strauss’ most popular and performed operas. The casting of its central role was problematic from the start: as Strauss famously said, Salome should be sung by "a 16-year old princess with the voice of an Isolde." She needs to have the affect and body of, respectively, a spoilt and lissom teenager, in order to convince both vocally and physically, especially when she performs her erotic Dance of the Seven Veils at Herod’s behest, yet she must have the power and endurance typical of a Wagnerian dramatic soprano, able to sing a role sustaining a high tessitura above a huge orchestra throughout most of the one act opera which typically last 100 minutes. Operatic sopranos combining those aptitudes are understandably rare; some have followed the example of the first Salome, Marie Wittich, who initially refused – “I won't do it, I'm a decent woman" - and had a ballerina substitute for her. Of course, unless the dancer is a body-double, which is unlikely, especially if, like Wittich, the soprano is of “traditional build”, this becomes highly unconvincing and even risible, because of the disparity between their physiques. Wittich eventually made things worse by swallowing her principles and insisting on doing the dance herself despite being physically ill-suited to it. Others have more wisely abandoned performing the role live, confining themselves to recordings. Montserrat Caballé was just such a one; she was vocally surprisingly suited to it and performed it in her younger years but abandoned the role on stage while still in her vocal prime for obvious reasons. A few singers, however, such as Malfitano, Mattila and Ewing, have been able to continue encompassing both the song and the dance elements, even going so far as to court notoriety by dancing virtually naked, without even the vestige of modesty provided by a body-stocking such as Mary Garden wore in 1908, presumably on the “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” principle. On recording that becomes irrelevant, of course; only the vocal dilemma remains. Jochanaan (sometimes “Jokanaan” for reasons I cannot discover – one French one German? - but it’s with a “k” in some German texts) is not the easiest role, either: it requires a beautiful baritone voice with the smoothest legato and a kind of other-worldly quality that suggest spirituality, yet he must be comely enough of voice and person to justify Salome’s obsession with him – a presence suggestive of sensuousness without sensuality, if you like. Herodias is a gift of a part for a chesty mezzo with attitude and even a good Narraboth can leave his mark before his shocking, self-inflicted demise in a pool of blood in front of his goddess. The temptation to cast Herod as some kind of biblical Mime has resulted in some notably ear-grating performances but, just as Mime benefits from being properly sung and characterised rather than caricatured by relentless screech and whining, in my estimation the best singers in that role are proper Heldentenors prepared to slum it a bit, such as Set Svanholm or Jon Vickers. MusicWeb International January 2019 Strauss’s Salome survey The Recordings Joseph Keilberth – 1948 (live radio broadcast; mono) Berlin Classics Orchestra - Dresdner Staatskapelle Salome - Christel Goltz Jochanaan - Josef Herrmann Herodes - Bernd Aldenhoff Herodias - Inger Karén Narraboth - Rudolf Dittrich Ein Page - Ruth Lange Erster Nazarener - Kurt Böhme Zweiter Nazarener - Walter Hiebl Erster Soldat - Manfred Hübner Zweiter Soldat - Martin Tietze Ein Cappadocier - Erich Handel Ein Sklave - Edith Hellriegel Erster Jude - Erich Zimmermann Zweiter Jude - Heinrich Tessmer Dritter Jude - Hans Delenda Vierter Jude - Johannes Kemter Fünfter Jude - Heinrich Pflanzl The mono sound is remarkably good here, very clean and forward; apparently the whole thing was recorded using only one microphone! Some of the voices among the supporting cast are a bit homespun; Josef Hermann is distinctly lacking in charisma and resonance, being too light and weak as Jochanaan and the Narraboth sounds too elderly. Christel Goltz was a celebrated Salome: she is a brilliant and lustful, with big, steady top notes but may be heard to advantage in superior company in subsequent recordings for Krauss and Mitropoulos. Bernd Aldenhoff enjoys time out from Heldentenor roles as a very characterful, full-voiced, if rather strenuous, Herod; Inger Karén makes a grating harridan of Herodias. Keilberth pushes the action onward in thoroughly confident and idiomatic style and the orchestral playing is very tight and euphonious - but this is not a prime contender. Fritz Reiner – 1949 (live; mono) Gebhardt; Guild Immortal Performances; Golden Melodram Orchestra - Metropolitan Opera Salome - Ljuba Welitsch Jochanaan - Herbert Janssen Herodes - Frederick Jagel Herodias - Kerstin Thorborg Narraboth - Brian Sullivan Ein Page - Hertha Glaz Erster Nazarener - Dezsö Ernster Zweiter Nazarener - Emery Darcy Erster Soldat - Jerome Hines Zweiter Soldat - Philip Kinsman Ein Cappadocier - Osie Hawkins Ein Sklave - Inge Manski Erster Jude - Leslie Chabay Zweiter Jude - Thomas Hayward Dritter Jude - Alessio De Paolis MusicWeb International p2 Strauss’s Salome survey Vierter Jude - Paul Franke Fünfter Jude - Gerhard Pechner This is rightly hailed by some as the better sung of Ljuba Welitsch's two live recorded performances at the Met conducted by Reiner, yet on balance I prefer the 1952 one for all that there is some (slight) deterioration in her voice three years after this classic 1949 version. My reasons are several: first, even though it is very listenable, after re-mastering, the 1949 sound remains inferior to my Walhall issue of the 1952 account; both are 24-bit but the three years improvement in recording equipment technology seems to have made a difference. Secondly, Reiner is equally good in both performances, so it doesn't matter which you buy to hear him in his element as a great Strauss conductor. Thirdly, the supporting cast in 1949 is markedly inferior to their later counterparts: both Frederick Jagel and Kerstin Thorborg were estimable singers in their day but even though they are here only in their early fifties they sound rather worn and wobbly compared with Set Svanholm and Elisabeth Höngen. Similarly, Herbert Janssen was a great Wagnerian but here in his late fifties sounds more like Salome's elderly uncle, mildly miffed by her inappropriate behaviour rather than a virile object of teenage desire; his under-powered "Du bist verflucht!" really doesn't chill as it should. Hans Hotter three years later, is much more imposing, even if he, too, sounds rather mature. My ears pricked up at the first notes of the First Soldier and sure enough, in 1949, it's the young Jerome Hines, but Norman Scott is pretty good in 1952, too, doubling as the Fourth Jew. Brian Sullivan repeats a terrific Narraboth - the best on record - in both versions. Welitsch is wonderful in both - the most credible and arresting Salome ever, sounding like a crazed ingénue with her pure, piping sound and unexpectedly trenchant lower register. But on balance I'd go for the 1952 recording. Fritz Reiner – 1952 (live; mono) Walhall; Myto Orchestra - Metropolitan Opera Salome - Ljuba Welitsch Jochanaan - Hans Hotter Herodes - Set Svanholm Herodias - Elisabeth Höngen Narraboth - Brian Sullivan Ein Page - Hertha Glaz Erster Nazarener - Alois Pernerstorfer Zweiter Nazarener - Emery Darcy Erster Soldat - Norman Scott Zweiter Soldat - Luben Vichey Ein Cappadocier - Osie Hawkins Ein Sklave - Paula Lenchner(-Schmidt) Erster Jude - Gabor Carelli Zweiter Jude - Thomas Hayward Dritter Jude - Alessio De Paolis Vierter Jude - Paul Franke Fünfter Jude - Gerhard Pechner One is immediately struck by the attack and immediacy of Reiner's direction in this 1952 live performance from the Met; Reiner was a master Strauss conductor and galvanises the orchestra into delivering a remarkably vibrant and supple account of this classic shocker. The brass are especially virtuosic and the performance surges ahead in an uninterrupted torrent of sound, sweeping the MusicWeb International p3 Strauss’s Salome survey listener along with it. The recorded sound is really good for live mono: clean and undistorted, permitting a fair amount of instrumental detail to emerge; Jochanaan's noble theme on the brass is electric. The next pleasant surprise is the quality of the singing. I had never heard of either singer taking the roles of Narraboth and the Page respectively when I first heard this recording, but Brian Sullivan in particular has a big, pliant tenor and Hans Hotter is in finest voice as the prophet, his declamatory outbursts noble and powerful with very little of the "woofiness" which soon afflicted his voice. He is able to suggest the other-worldly fanatic and has the vocal resources of a celebrated Wotan to sustain his characterisation – although obviously that militates against his sounding like the young man he is supposed to be.